March 2, 2025
We’re continuing to look at some married couples in the Old Testament, to learn from their mistakes and successes. Today we’re looking at Abraham and Sarah.
In life, we all need to make some big decisions. What kind of job am I interested in? Who should I marry? Should I have kids, if so, how many? Maybe even: Am I going to be a cat or a dog person?
These are big decisions you may want God’s help with while you make them! You don’t know for certain what to do. But you can seek God’s guidance. We walk by faith!
In Genesis 12:1-2, God speaks to Abraham saying, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.” And then God makes a phenomenal promise to Abraham. He says, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.”
Abraham has a big decision to make! God is asking him to leave everything that feels comfortable, to leave his family and friends and go somewhere he’s never been. God is saying you are going to have to live by faith and go into an unknown zone. If you do, He promises, I’ll give you many blessings.
Turns out, Abraham was a person of faith. 1000 or more years later, there’s a book in the New Testament, Hebrews, that looks back at Abraham and say this: (Hebrews 11:8), “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” Abraham walked by faith!
I can imagine Abraham’s conversation with his wife Sarah about the message he received: “You know Sarah, I was chatting with God, and He told us to move!” Sarah’s probably like, “I don’t want to move.” Although it was easier for them to move than it is for you or me. They were nomads anyway. They lived in tents. Abraham was able to pack up and go quickly. But still, going to an unknown land is hard for anybody! God had promised him he would be the father of a great nation, that He would bless him, and that Abrahm would be a blessing to others. Abraham said yes to God! He stepped out in faith.
God will often call you to a future of blessing, and the only road there is the faith road. Me? I always want to know the details. What will the blessing be? What kind of obstacles will I face? What are the people like where I’m going? God doesn’t give you the details, because you couldn’t handle the details. If you knew precisely what obstacles you’d experience during the medical procedure your doctor wants you to do, you might not obey! Sometimes it’s better not to know!
Another reason God doesn’t give you details of what you’ll experience on the faith road, is this: if you had all the details, you would NOT have to walk by faith. You only grow in love of God and trust in him, as you learn to be patient, persevere, and walk by faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God.
Hebrews 11 in the New Testament, is called the faith chapter. It’s about people who kept faith in the Bible. It describes Abraham and Sarah as people of faith. But if you look at their life in the Old Testament, Genesis 12-18, you are going to find that they didn’t always have faith. Which encourages me, because I often waiver in faith! God blesses us, even if we aren’t 100% faithful all the time.
We’re going to look at three moments in Abraham and Sarah’s marriage when life didn’t go as they planned. These are three things for us to beware of in our lives. So, the first example when they responded in a faithless way, was when they fell victim to fear.
Abraham and Sarah were travelling into Egypt, and Abraham said to Sarah, “You are a beautiful woman, and when the Egyptians see you, someone will want to kill me in order that they can marry you. So, tell everyone that you’re my sister, not my wife.” So, Sarah did, she lied. And people told Pharaoh about how beautiful Sarah was, and he took her into his palace.
The thing is, God had promised Abraham countless descendants and many blessings! But Abraham is afraid God will let him be killed just for being married. Abraham tells Sarah to lie, because he really doesn’t trust God to do what he promised he would do. For us today it could be fear of getting married. You hear about difficult marriages, people who cheat in marriage, a spouse who only complains, or couples who get divorced, and you decide to avoid commitment. I’m never going to get married. Marriage isn’t for me. But then you miss out on being a committed couple. Kevin and I are in love, and he loves me, no matter what color I dye my hair. And I love him no matter how long or short his hair is. It’s great! Don’t give in to fear and talk yourself out of being obedient to God. The only road to God’s blessing is the faith road.
The second issue Sarah and Abraham run into is they get ahead of God. Sarah wants to have kids. When God first spoke to Abraham and told him to go where he told him and that He would give him descendants, Abraham was 75 and Sarah was 65. She is already way past the age for having children, still they are trusting God to provide children. But many years go by, and Sarah decides to take things into her own hands. She has a servant named Hagar, and in Genesis 16 she tells Abraham, “The Lord has kept me from having children. So go, lie with my servant. Perhaps I can build a family through her.” See, Sarah panics. This baby isn’t coming the way she wants, so she gets ahead of God. And Abraham does as Sarah says, and Hagar has a son. Sarah, however, gets really jealous of Hagar and her son Ishmael. She’s so jealous she makes them leave and go into the wilderness. Which was awful. Sarah takes things in her own hands and got ahead of God.
Getting ahead of God happens to us. Like when you have a spouse who doesn’t go to church or doesn’t believe in God. And instead of winning your spouse over with humility and gentleness and patience, you get in their face and point a finger at them and tell them they’ve got to get to church. Rather than waiting on God to do what only God can do. Sometimes we have to wait a LOOOOONNNNNGGGG time for God to act. But God is never late. A lot of times we panic, where are you God? We feel like we have to force it. But God calls us to have faith. The only road to God’s blessing is the faith road.
The third issue Sarah and Abraham run into is they don’t believe that God will bless or answer their prayer. Maybe God will work a miracle for someone else. But not for me. And at this point, in Genesis 17, 24 years have passed since God promised Abraham and Sarah descendants. Abraham is now 99, and Sarah is 89 years old!! God comes to them again and says, “I will bless Sarah and will surely give you a son by her.” Well, Abraham falls down on the ground and laughs! But God says, No, really, Sarah will have a son, and you will call him Isaac! Then, in Genesis 18, Sarah laughs at this too: she says, I am worn out, and my husband is old! And God says, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”
Abraham and Sarah laugh, but here’s what Romans 4:20-21 says, “Abraham did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.”
Abraham and Sarah were strengthened in faith. They listen when God says, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Apparently, nothing’s too hard, because one year later, along comes baby Isaac! The only road to God’s blessing is the faith road.
My homework for you this week is to bring a prayer request to God. Something that seems kind of impossible. Remember what God told Sarah: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Lift up your prayer request, believing God can do all things!
Abraham and Sarah lived three thousand years ago. But they were like us in this: sometimes they struggled to believe. Sometimes they lost faith and did stupid things. But their faith was strengthened. Even though they gave up multiple times, God was faithful. So, whatever you are struggling with in life, be encouraged by the words of God: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Amen.
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